QTH.COM Swap Chat

Starting November 18th they are instituting buyer protection for up to 180 days.
Essentially it is a 6 month money back guarantee. This was instituted by PayPal to avoid loosing money on credit card charge backs.
I am sure there are folks selling gear who have no idea this is going on.

From PayPal:

"We’re increasing the time for buyers to file a merchandise dispute (Item Not Received and Significantly Not as Described) from 45 days to 180 days. All references in the User Agreement to “Opening a Dispute within 45 days” have been updated to reflect “Opening a Dispute within 180 days.”" - this effects ALL PayPal purchases. New, used and from ANY vendor. Business or individual.

-- In other words: any buyer using PayPal to purchase items from online vendors will enjoy a six-month return window, which in turn means no seller can assume a transaction is truly complete (and payment received truly theirs) for that long.

Frankly, any seller of used equipment that uses PayPal after November 18th has got to be crazy. You are now in the extended warranty business.

BTW, the Federally mandated deadline for filing a credit card dispute is 60 days from the date of statement on which the disputed transaction first appears.

There's a way around this insanity:

1. Use a prepaid credit card with your PayPal account.

2. Zero out the card AS SOON AS the funds become available.

3.. Use a new prepaid card for each transaction.

These are just the basic precautions. With a little more thought, more can be added.

N9LCD

At the last minute the buyer asks to send you a cashier's check for $3000 MORE than your asking price, and asks you to send him the difference -- "but only after the cashier's check clears, of course." (Perhaps he explains that someone in the U.S. owes him $7,000 and it would be simpler if that person just sent the cashier's check to you and you sent him the $3,000. Or, perhaps he says he needs the extra dollars for shipping.)